"Kramnik fought like a Don Quixote..." — GM Hans Ree Visited Kramnik vs. New In Chess Court Hearing

Hans Ree

Dutch GM

“There was nothing in that article that, in my opinion, could lead to a conviction and compensation. But I did find it a sickening piece…

The author had carefully avoided taking a position himself, but after a search on the internet, he piled up the opinions of others over six pages, which could only lead the reader to the conclusion that Kramnik is either a very bad person or completely out of his mind.

I thought of the wonderful New in Chess from the past, and that it is a good thing I was dishonorably discharged from there a few years ago.

Kramnik’s team, with a man in a lawyer’s suit who gave the impression that he had looked up Kramnik’s name in the encyclopedia that morning, did their case no good. And Kramnik himself didn’t either. When he spoke via video link, the judge warned against a repetition of tactics.

She seemed to side with New in Chess, partly because she went along with the narrative that it was a small publisher. It is a medium-sized publisher in itself, but the Quality Chess group, of which it is a part, is probably the largest chess publishing consortium in the world.

Kramnik did not turn against a small publisher to frighten the big players, as was suggested by the eloquent defense of New in Chess. He fought like a Don Quixote, helplessly taking on the biggest.

After the hearing, I saw the people from New in Chess outside in a cheerful mood, which I interpreted as ‘a done deal’.”